Compounds of the following structure are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,060 issued Mar. 23, 1976, as useful intermediates and as monamine oxidase inhibitors; ##STR2## wherein R.sub.1 is lower alkyl of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms; R.sub.2 is hydrogen or phenyl; and R.sub.4 is phenyl or trialkylmethyl wherein the alkyl moiety has 1 or 2 carbon atoms.
The compounds of the present invention are distinguishable from the above compounds in that they are carboximidates in that the imine forming carbon atom is substituted with a methoxy or ethoxy group. The compounds of the present invention offer certain advantages over the compounds of the above structure as useful intermediates in that they react with greater regiospecificity resulting in better yields of product. For example, it has been found that the compounds of the present invention result in higher yields of the ornithine derivatives described hereinbelow in Formula III.